This new book on one of the contentious enigmas of the Great War brings together new research and evidence to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding this great sea tragedy.

Launched in 1907, the Lusitania was briefly the world’s largest liner, symbol of the fierce rivalry between transatlantic shipping agents in Europe and a forerunner of the Titanic – proving to be a similarly ill-starred vessel as it became a target for German U-boats early in the First World War. The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 was as shocking as any incident in the war. The massive loss of life confirmed all the preconceived ideas of German brutality, and there were far-reaching political and social repercussions of this act of aggression.

In Britain anti-German propaganda reached fever pitch and forced PM Asquith into a massive Alien Internment programme after riots in Liverpool and London’s East End. The USA, which had been resolutely isolationist, experienced a huge swell of support of intervention on the side of the Triple Entente, while in Germany the U-Boat captain was initially hailed a hero before being court-martialled after the international outcry. And there are still question-marks a hundred years on. Why was the ship’s captain unfairly scapegoated after not being told of U-boats in the area? Was the ship actually armed as the Germans have often claimed? and how much about all of this and much more did the First Lord of the Admiralty, one Winston S. Churchill, know?

Jennifer Kewley Draskau tries to solve these puzzles in Lusitania: Tragedy or War Crime?.

JENNIFER KEWLEY DRASKAU is a prize-winning author, poet and playwright. Her publications include work on language, translation and Sylvia Plath. A broadcaster, journalist and academic, her previous jobs have included ranch hand, catwalk model, language tutor to the Thai royal family, fashion editor, youth-orchestra leader and dressage judge.